Plankwing

I bought two of the "new" Squadron/Encore F-84F reprise of the HobbyBoss F-84F 48th scale kit. I bought them because they "enhanced" the kit with some resin additions and a new decal sheet. The box are showed the Belgian F-84F air demo "052" in the scheme for years 1964-1964. I have already built the HB kit "Straight from the Box" for my build review that appeared in SAMI March 2014. Though the HB kit is the best available F-84F kit in 48th scale, that is a "just barely" true statement as the ancient Monogram kit is behind only because of raised detail and a "too slim" aft fuselage. The Kineti

Been there, done that a few years ago. Just IMHO, set the Heller on the shelf and get the just-released Tanmodel 2201 RF-84F kit. For an easy-start-returning-to-the-hobby build, leave the cameras and mounts out (but include the bulkheads), put some weight in the nose, and do a "from the box" build. Even with substituting Monogram parts into the Heller, the Tanmodel RF is a silk purse in comparison!

I bought the Attic 48th resin kit. Absolutely awful. Not even close to accurate, gigantic waste of money. FWIW, the only part that is of any use at all is the canopy, which, by the way, I sent to Erik Bultz over three years ago for him to use as a reference on his project. His project has not come to fruition, and, despite several request to him to return my canopy, he has not complied and does not communicate in any way. Caveat emptor.

So, over three years since your last post, and now coming up on two years and four months since my last post/complaint, Erik. Where is the progress? Where is my canopy? I entered into the agreement with you in good faith and I have to conclude you are neither honest or reliable.

Sheesh! Has it been that long?! I guess so! "What happened?" Lots of other things! And there it is, right on my workbench awaiting my further attention. Too many projects, not enough sense!

Some progress, part way through adding decals.

Building this F-84F using the Hobby Boss 48th kit as a "basic upgrade" to the kit. I've "fixed" the various bits that needed correction. Used a couple of round files to reshape the "bulges" on both sides of the fairing between cockpit and tail. Filed the aft top of the fin to correct the shape. Replaced the cockpit bits with AMS Resin parts. Replaced the aft end of the tailpipe with AMS Resin corrected part. Replaced the poorly done nose gear well and intake spliter parts with Kinetic parts (and including the ball bearing weight). Covered incorrect refueling door on starboard wing wi

Some progress on the TF-84G build. The Tamiya wing tanks are incorrect (tank too large, fin too small) so I substituted the tanks from the Revell kit. Painting commenced, Insignia White and Insignia Blue. Scheme is based on the Flying Training Wing schemes on the T-6A Texans.

Thanks for the photo and info. I have received a couple other photos from other sources, but none yet are closeup enough for me to confirm shape and other details of the smoke generator. However, one photo that showed up (actually, a better photo of one I already had in my stash) revealed some color details that I had gotten wrong. Every little bit helps!

I presume you mean Gliding Bob? I thought I'd already checked with him and he had no info, but maybe my Halfheimers has kicked in.

18th January 2014 --- Added my build of this Belgian F-84F demo as a continuation of this topic. What is the equipment aft ventral ahead of the drogue chute housing? This is F-84F Belgian FU-52 in Demo livery 1966. I think it is a smoke generator but cannot find any other info than what is evident in these three photos (combined into one graphic). I am building a model of this using the new Hobby Boss 48th scale kit and would like to add the "whatever this is" to the build. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Brian, very helpful info on the decals. I don't claim to have researched decals that thoroughly. Thanks for letting me know my web site was helpful. I had to take the site down because it was generating so much bandwidth that it got to expensive for me to afford. If I can ever get it back online, I will provide the news on this and other forums.

The shape of the intake on the HB kit is correct. The only kit with incorrect intake is the Kinetic/Italeri. I'm curious why you feel the decals "all wanting" as I've gotten every decal sheet I could find for F-84F including some in 72nd scale for reference (though I build only 48th). Certainly, there are some from years past that are not as complete as some of the newer ones, or like Heller where the data decals are heavy handed. My take on most of the aftermarket decals is that they are quite good. In scale, the minor differences of some decals from "real" are no more detracting to me than

One of the issues mentioned about HB errors is the incorrectly included refueling door on the starboard wing. Another omission from the kit is neither decal nor paint call out for the radar panel in the intake splitter. Here is a graphic, hopefully self-descriptive, that includes the patterns for a radar panel decal and for a decal to cover the incorrect refueling door. The procedure is to airbrush the appropriate color onto a decal sheet, print the patterns (they are 1:1 sized on the graphic), use a school glue stick or rubber cement to attach them to the decal backing (the graphic is mirror

Good questions, Brian. And, with the qualification that I first recommend the AMS update set because of the far better accuracy and details, Harold is aware that I've already tested what you visualize. Why would I do such a thing?! Maybe because I have ten of the Monogram and two each of the Kinetic and Italeri Streak kits, plus orts from at least four Monogram Streaks I've used for other bashes. Plus, maybe because I'm a kit basher that was born with the "I wonder what ..." gene! I must confess that, though I've got two Monogram and one Italeri "on the bench" started, that in comparison to th

Tim, please consider that this build is a "test" where I'm doing a "what works and what doesn't" build, so I suggest not to take this build as "what has to be done" to make it right. In fact, I've suggested to Harold that he make available two sets. One would be a "minimal" set that includes splitter/nose gear well, weight, and wheel set; that is, the parts needed to enable a reasonable "from the box" build. The other is the current "detail upgrade" set that adds (to the "minimal") all cockpit bits, suck in doors, corrected drop tanks, and tailpipe. In either case, I recommend getting the SAC

The peg on the SAC main gear has to be filed down some to fit into the HB kit pocket. So, yes, the main gear fits with that bit of filing. After doing the deed to replace the HB main gear wells with the modified Aires parts, I conclude the very minor improvement is not worth the effort. Thus, IMHO, there is no need to replace the HB main gear wells, and the SAC gear with resin main and nose wheel/fender will fill the bill for needed HB landing gear upgrade.

UPDATE to my comment above that SAC main gear for F-84F would fit HobbyBoss kit part, note that the peg on the SAC part must be filed to fit the pocket on the kit, see photo below. More progress on fitting the Aires gun bay to the HB kit. Used two Kinetic kit hoods to cut and paste to make a hood to fit the HB. The two parts glued up then primered. The HB kit has no detail on the cockpit sides, these are from the same Aires detail set as the gun bay. I wanted to "test" whether resin main gear wells would be a viable upgrade so this is a "trial" using the Aires parts for the Kine

I have done a dry fit of the nose gear to both the kit part and the AMS replacement; both fit with a bit of tweaking to the attachment parts of the SAC part. The main gear struts fit the kit part without any modification. The caveat is, no wheels with the SAC set plus no fender for the nose wheel. Harold's set includes the main wheels, I'll defer to Harold about any plans for including a nose wheel and fender.

This is the HobbyBoss fuselage compared to the Cox drawing which was done using plumb-bobs to measure F-84F-45-RE 52-7102. Note that the length of the nose of the kit compares favorably to the drawing. As the Aires gun bay for the Tamiya Thunderjet is clearly shorter than the gun bay of the HobbyBoss kit, that raises the question (which I have yet to investigate) of whether the gun bay on Thunderjets was approx 1' shorter than the gun by on the Thunderstreaks.

My first order of business for the build was to "fit" the Aires gun bay set for Tamiya F-84G into the HobbyBoss F-84F. The size difference is rather obvious. Aires gun bay atop AMS Resin intake/nose gear bay. Aires gun bay atop AMS Resin intake/nose gear bay. HobbyBoss F-84F nose is longer than the Tamiya F-84G nose. Still working on fitment. Think anyone will notice the size difference when I pose the gun bay door open? Pondering whether I should scratch build a cover to fit.

Try this link: http://www.aviationmegastore.com/?shopid=&action=prodinfo&parent_id=&art=117548

Having completed the HobbyBoss F-84F from the box, I am commencing to build my second kit "enhanced" with the new AMS Resin upgrade/correction set that I picked up today from Hairoldcut (photos and info below), and Scale Aircraft Conversions landing gear set #48143. It is my intent to open the gun bay and detail with the Aires set #4096 for the Tamiya Thunderjet. Note that I am aware I might have a thrash on my hands to make that set fit the HobbyBoss fuselage. Nothing tried, nothing gained. As with all the other F-84F kits in 48th scale, the HobbyBoss tail is not correct for either short or

I have finished my "from the box" build of the HobbyBoss F-84F Thunderstreak kit #81726. I am not reposting the box art and other graphics posted on another topic; see topic http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=268825&st=0 for those graphics. I am not repeating the "first look" Hairoldcut and I did, nor am I mentioning the issues with poor details; see topic http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=267320&st=0&p=2552971entry2552971 for that review. BACKGROUND: I chose the scheme for FS-675 specifically because of the large #9 anti-glare+liver